Now that I’ve finally got over my childhood aversion to peas (after many false starts!), there have been a lot of pea-based abundance bowls in our house.
While my Irishman loves the olive & goats cheese version, my favourite is this little combo of salmon, mint and feta.
Love how a bag of frozen peas becomes dinner in only a few minutes… Who needs pasta?!
Hot smoked salmon keeps in the fridge for months so without the mint this is a fab little pantry recipe to have up your sleeve.
Canned salmon will also work. As will other smoked fish. Chilli tuna in a can. Or even freshly pan fried salmon or white fish.
So many options!
Salmon, Pea & Feta Bowls
Ingredients
- 4-6 tablespoons butter
- 500 g frozen peas
- small bunch mint leaves picked
- 300 g hot smoked salmon or chicken, flaked
- 100 g feta crumbled
Instructions
- Place butter in a medium saucepan over a medium high heat. Add frozen peas and cook, covered for a minute or so. Stir and cook for another minute or until peas are defrosted and hot.
- Remove from the heat and toss in mint, salmon (with or without the skin) and feta. Serve in deep bowls with salt at the table but you probably won’t need it with the butter, feta and salmon.
WINE MATCH: A nice crisp Riesling or Pinot Gris.
Variations & Substitutions
vegetarian – replace salmon with poached eggs, smoked tofu or smoked / roast almonds.
different protein – try different fish or some quick pulled chicken or crispy bacon or cooked chorizo.
more substantial (carb lovers) – toss in cooked pasta or serve with crusty bread. Steamed potatoes will keep the Irish contingent happy.
more substantial (low carb) – more salmon, more feta, mayo or toss in some roasted almonds or other nuts.
keto /ultra low carb – replace peas with baby spinach.
dairy-free – replace feta with toasted sliced almonds, walnuts or croutons. Replace butter with extra virgin olive oil
moroccan vibe – toss in a tablespoon of finely chopped preserved lemon.
different herbs – parsley, basil or coriander (cilantro) will all take it in a different direction.
Problem Solving Guide
bland – more salt. more lemon.
too dry – a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil will help. OR more lemon.
fish falling apart – next time add the fish on top just before serving so it doesn’t get bashed around.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
butter – will keep in the fridge for weeks.
frozen peas – keep in the freezer.
mint – best to use for another meal. leaves can be frozen but will wilt when defrosted so not ideal. Alternatively make a mint oil by packing washed and dried leaves in a clean dry glass jar and covering with extra virgin olive oil use mint oil to serve with lamb, chicken or fish.
smoked salmon – freeze it.
feta – keeps for months unopened in its packet. Or can be frozen. Or you could make a marinated feta by putting it in a super clean jar from the dishwasher and covering with oil and then keeping it in the fridge. Sometimes I like to add flavourings like bay leaves, lemon zest and pepper corns or chilli.
Prepare Ahead
You can if you like. Just make as per the recipe but keep the mint separately. Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks or can be frozen. To serve, warm in a pan with a little more butter and toss in the mint.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Another recipe of yours Jules that I read and go, ‘ohh, not sure about this combo’, but knowing the success rate of your recipes I have all faith and purchase the ingredients.
Made it today for a quick lunch and again you never fail to impress me with your simple meals Jules.
Thank you ?? ?
Fantastic Kath! So glad you took the leap 🙂
Had this for lunch today in the garden. I had some beets to use up so I put them in too. A perfect weekend lunch. Delicious!
oh lucky you eating in the garden Eleanor – we had lunch by the fire yesterday 🙂
And nice addition with the beets!
hi jules , just wanted to know if I cld use smoked salmo instead of the fresh salmon that I see in the picture??
Absolutely Patricia!
hi jules noticed the salmon is cooked salmon ,not the sliced smoked salmon . will that do ??
thank you
plan to cook tonight if no answer , will cook something else .
thank you very much
I used hot smoked salmon here Patricia but you could definitely use sliced cold smoked salmon instead (or any protein that doesn’t need further cooking)
Sort of. Sausages instead of salmon, a leftover capsicum and zucchini fried with the sausages before the peas, added olives, and sour cream rather than cheese. Good.
Liking the idea of sour cream here Mark 🙂
i had fresh salmon so i steamed that in the oven (foil packet) with the mint & lemon. then added feta & peas afterwards. it was amazing, love the flavor combo! thanks jules
Glad you enjoyed Elizabeth!
Challenge Day 6: Yes! Yes! Yes! Loved it!
Yes Meredith!
The first meal Charles has shared in.. We had it with grilled chicken and crumbled pork sausage and melted cheese. The frozen peas were the 1 consistent. We both love them! I worry they’ll spike my blood sugar but since you have this, too, I follow your recommendation to eat certain things in small portions per recipe!!! We’re leaps and bounds beyond goal (7-8) and we’re playing out the rest of the meal plan… Yep, you got my household’s interest. We definitely need to be challenged.. And its working out!
So glad to hear it’s working out Kris!
This meal was delicious, and so simple to put together. With peas in the freezer, I’ll never be at a loss for a quick nutritious meal. Thank you, Jules, for the peas instead of pasta suggestion!
You’re so welcome Sherrill – veggies for pasta is one of my favourite tricks 😉
Meal #5. I have to admit that although I always love any meal I try from you, Jules, I was a bit dubious of this one. Count me wrong again! This was great. In fact, with some changes since I don’t have enough ingredients to make as is, it will be making the trip to lunch for tomorrow. Looks like I will have to use some roasted cabbage and broccoli instead of the mint, and adding a little bit of leftover shrimp just to clean out the fridge a bit.
So glad you were surprised Jim!
Made with fresh peas. Great for a light summer dinner. Thanks!
ooh fresh peas sound amazing Catharine!
I made this for lunch today, but with fresh Alaskan Sockeye Salmon that I caught this weekend! Sooo good. Also had to omit the herbs because my grocery store was out and used goat cheese instead of feta. This is such an easy dish to put together and so tasty. 🙂
OMG Raelynn – you caught your own salmon – that’s amazing! How fun
I did!! I have a freezer full of salmon that I’ve caught in the last couple years. We do something called dip netting in Alaska in the summer months.
Considering this recipe.
Question: What is Hot Smoked Salmon? Is it already seasoned and cooked with hot spices or a sauce?
Excellent question Cynthia!
The hot refers to the smoking temerature – traditional smoked salmon is cold smoked at low temperatures so the flesh remains translucent. The smoking doesn;t actually cook the fish.
Hot smoked fish is actually smoked at a temperature high enough to cook the fish as well as flavour with the smoke. It’s generally unspiced and unsauced.
You could use either for this recipe (or any cooked protein you prefer).
Made this for our dinner tonight with chicken. Swapped half the peas for leftover cabbage and onion from the magic super recipe excellent combo and sinfully simple. Start to table 5 min.!
I like the sound of your cabbage version more than mine Sandy! Nice one 🙂
Made this tonight, with a piece of flash-frozen salmon that had been in my freezer for way too long. It was delicious! Used parmesan instead of feta, because that’s what I had. I’ll definitely make this again.
Glad you enjoyed Karen!
Peas are one of my comfort foods, combine with salmon and feta and this is a big (quick & easy) hug in a bowl! Yum, thanks!
Excellent Kelly!
So funny I struggle with peas so this meal is a challenge for me to eat but I knew it would be perfect for pea lovers!
Absolutely delicious and super easy and quick. Will be adding this one to the regular roster.
Nice one Isabel!
I’m planning on making this this week and I was wondering at what point should one add the lemon? Is it best to use just the juice or can one add the zest as well? Thanks!
I just added a little fresh squeezed lemon juice at the end and mixed.
Thanks for the input, Isabel 🙂
Perfect Isabel
I like to serve lemon wedges at the table and squeeze over the juice as needed Claire. You could totally add lemon sezt as well for extra freshness with the mint. Glad you asked 🙂
Your simple combos do bring joy to my palate. Pushed recipe more Mediterranean with addition of cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives and olive oil (replacing the butter) and fresh basil and oregano instead of mint.
Oh i love the idea of bringing joy to your palate Julie! Thank you for those kind words 🙂
Made this for dinner with freshly pan-fried pre-seasoned salmon and added rice, turning it into a stir-fry. No mint, but the spices from the fish were great.
Only negative: found out the huz doesn’t like feta… bummer! He only noticed after his second helping, though, so I guess it wasn’t all bad! 😉
Too funny with your husband and the feta Anke! You can always sprinkle it over at the end for you 🙂
Loved this recipe in the 10 Day Challenge. I didn’t have hot smoked salmon so I cooked green prawns with a little garlic instead. When I reheated my spare meal (as I cook just for me) the feta melted and mixed through the butter cooked peas, prawns & garlic. Very tasty! Thanks Jules!
Oh yum Meika! And love the idea of using garlic prawns.
I made this last night for dinner and it was amazing! I added a bag of spinach and cooked pasta to the peas once they were defrosted and warm, made plenty for two servings for lunch today. My husband doesn’t like fish (and I love it!) so I mixed half the peas/pasta/spinach/mint/feta with canned chicken and half with the hot smoked salmon. Simple, quick, and delicious! Can’t wait to try it with basil or parsley and perhaps goats cheese instead of feta.
Yum Katherine! It’s funny my Irishman is the same with fish (although I’m working on him). But it’s great to have options like this where everyone is happy
We’re actually above 20C finally. So making the tuna noodle casserole my daughter was craving was not high on my list. But this was a delicious compromise, and my mint patch can shine. I steamed the peas over her pasta. Used a few marinated artichokes and a little olive oil.
ooh I’ve been loving marinated artichokes Murphy 🙂
And I am always adding pasta to meals like this for my boys
Just had this – I had salmon hubby had Chicken – amazing – can’t believe how easy it is to make healthy food 🙂
So glad you’ve come around to my way of thinking Ethel!
Update – hubby not a great fish fan but noticed he has bought hot smoked salmon as he is wanting this again but with the fish instead of chicken – result:)
Total result! Well done Ethel 🙂
I have to confess that this was Yesterday’s Day 1 for me. No salmon so I used tuna.
The challenge was a great motivation because I was going to make (insert shamed face here) 2 minute noodles with peas and grated cheese because it was almost 9pm on a work night. But my conscience attacked me.
Good for you making this anyway Pamela!
It probably wasn’t any more labour intensive than your 2-minute noodles would have been 🙂 You’ll have to remember it next time!
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Like Sherrill, this is #3 of the challenge. Perfect. Tasty, easy, one pot to wash up. On my favourites list for sure.
Excellent Jennifer!
No mint, but copious parsley in our yard, so I substituted that. Such a tasty meal and I felt healthy eating it. Great challenge meal.
Yay Helen!
For meal #3 of the challenge, I had some sausages that needed to be used, and cooked them with sauerkraut. But, I needed a veggie and remembered I had an extra bag of peas. I cooked them with butter and added mint leaves. It was a perfect veggie to go with the sauerkraut. And I still have a bag of peas to use for Salmon, Oeas and Feta Bowls another day. Yum!
Oops… Peas!
Very creative Sherrill!
I can see where this would make a wonderful lunch. Don’t really need to add pasta or other “fast” carb because the peas fill that niche as well as being a veggie.
I’ve been loving it for dinner but it would work for lunch too Susan!
After changing my mind about peas, I’d much rather this than a big bowl of pasta any day.
Jx